Enforcement Or Exception? US Antitrust Developments Under The Second Trump Administration (Podcast)

Plaintiffs' experts in antitrust class actions often employ a two-step econometric method to demonstrate common impact across class members. New research reveals fundamental flaws in this widely-used approach, showing how it systematically produces false positives and identifies class-wide impact even when no actual harm occurred.

The FTC secured major enforcement wins including blocking Henkel's $725 million Liquid Nails acquisition and unwinding Zillow-Redfin's market-exit deal, while also proposing new personalized pricing policies and finalizing penalties for deceptive AI advertising claims. What do these recent actions signal about the agency's enforcement priorities and regulatory approach?

California's legislative branch has sent Assembly Bill 1776, known as the COMPETE Act, to Governor Gavin Newsom for signature, marking a significant expansion of the state's antitrust enforcement capabilities. If enacted, this legislation would empower California's Attorney General to challenge single-firm monopolistic conduct under the Cartwright Act...

The Department of Justice announced a landmark $250 million settlement with KKR & Co. for allegedly submitting deficient Hart-Scott-Rodino Act notification forms across at least 16 transactions. This unprecedented penalty, the largest ever for HSR violations, raises critical questions about merger notification compliance obligations and the consequences of systemic noncompliance with federal antitrust review requirements.

On August 19, a jury in Oklahoma found one company and two individuals—the company’s vice president and its estimator—guilty of price fixing and bid rigging.

The Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation of IonQ's acquisition of SkyWater Technology after the Commission's two sitting members divided over whether the transaction warranted a negotiated behavioral consent order. These detailed statements reveal how each Commissioner analyzes vertical transactions and their claimed benefits, offering critical insights for parties planning vertical transactions in defense and national-security sectors.

Private equity firm KKR has agreed to pay a record-breaking $250 million civil penalty to settle allegations of systematic violations of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act across at least 16 transactions. Federal antitrust agencies are demonstrating unprecedented scrutiny of premerger compliance requirements, pursuing significant penalties even when underlying transactions themselves face no competitive concerns.

State regulation of algorithmic pricing is accelerating across the United States, with California, Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey enacting new restrictions while New York lawmakers advance legislation that would expand existing disclosure requirements. The key distinction lies in the data driving the price: some states restrict tools using competitor data to address antitrust concerns, while others target consumer-specific pricing based on personal data to address unfairness and deception. These deve

State attorneys general in Florida and Louisiana have filed lawsuits against pharmacy benefit managers alleging collusion and price-fixing of reimbursement rates paid to retail and independent pharmacies. These cases represent a growing trend of states pursuing antitrust enforcement actions against PBMs for allegedly coordinating to suppress pharmacy reimbursements.

Over the last decade, investigation timelines for transactions subject to Second Requests soared. Before 2015, the average timelines for Second Request investigation regularly fell under eight months. By 2025, that average had climbed to over 12 months. Of course, these average timelines only cover time before the agency decides whether to challenge a transaction. For transactions subject to a complaint, the clock ran longer. And as dealmakers know, time is often the enemy of closing.